The Standing Committee of the Nigerian Guild of Editors has called for “stimulus”, from the Federal Government to save the media from total collapse from the impact of Covid-19.
The position of the Guild of Editors is contained in a Communiqué at the end of its virtual meeting via Zoom from the Editors’ House, Ikeja, Lagos.
The meeting acknowledged the “dire state of the media”, which it said has now been made worse by COVID-19 pandemic and called on the Federal Government to inject funds in the media to insulate the sector from the effects of Covid-19.
“There is an urgent and very compelling need for Nigerian government intervention to save the media from total collapse”, the statement sa
The Guild said such government backed finances to private sector operations to save them from bankruptcy was not new; citing how the United States used public funds to save the economy in the wake of global meltdown in 2008 and has made similar provisions for $2trillion bailout for companies amid the scourge of Covid-19.
The Guild stressed the bailout on grounds that media services are regarded as “essential services” and hence, deserve to be treated like other essential services that played key roles on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19.
The body of Editors argued further that government intervention will enable the media to continue ro discharge its constitutional mandate; pointing out that the survival of the media is key to the survival of democracy.
The Guild of Editors has therefore added its weight to the position of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria
(BON) and the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), both of which had made strong appeals to the Federal Government of Nigeria for bailout.
The Guild also condemned the penchant of some State Governors to assume the role of judges in their own case, by arbitrarily harassing, assaulting and in some cases, detaining journalists.
Editor: (Omor Bazuaye)
